Manley Field House returns to roots, as Syracuse football practice facility

Syracuse, NY -- Echoes from cheers of Syracuse University basketball games past may still rattle around the steel rafters at Manley Field House, but the landmark at East Colvin Street and Comstock Avenue is a hoops venue no more.

Manley, which began life in 1962 as an indoor football practice facility but became famous as a basketball arena, is moving into the future and headed back to its roots at the same time.

A summer project at the field house has seen the wood and steel bleachers taken down and the floor torn out. When workers are done, probably in late August, the new Manley will once again be primarily a football practice field — albeit one with the latest in field turf, rather than dirt, covering most of its floor, along with a three-lane track and an 80-yard sprint lane.

The facelift, which SU says will cost just under $1 million, will provide a practice home for coach Doug Marrone’s football team. It also will serve other Orange sports, including men’s and women’s lacrosse, soccer, softball, field hockey and track & field.

“No question football’s going to be the main tenant,” said SU athletics director Daryl Gross. “We never lose sight of the fact that for us to be successful, football and basketball have to perform well, because that’s going to drive the revenue that supports all of the sports. And all of our coaches understand that.”

Gross said the idea to return Manley to its roots was not new, but it wasn’t until the adjacent Carmelo K. Anthony Basketball Center opened in September that plans could move forward.

'A magnificent structure

• The George L. Manley Field House, named after a Norwich physician and surgeon who donated most of the money for it, was christened the evening of Dec. 15, 1962.

• Manley, who earned a degree from Syracuses College of Medicine in 1938, was presented a silver tray by Chancellor William P. Tolley at the opening ceremonies which were attended by about 6,000, according to a Dec. 16 story in The Post-Standard. Its a magnificent structure that should stand for better than a century, said Manley.

• The field house, which cost about $2 million, made its debut in ceremonies sandwiched between two basketball games and a track & field event.

• The Syracuse University football team first practiced in Manley on Sept. 5, after inclement weather forced coach Ben Schwartzwalder to bring his 70-member team indoors for a two-hour workout, according to The Post-Standard.

Pete Sala, SU senior associate athletics director, said Friday that all of the moveable bleachers are gone, although two balconies with some permanent seats will remain. Field turf for football, approximately 90 yards long, will run north and south, roughly the same direction as Comstock Avenue.

Sala said a section of Astro turf, which is more like carpet, will be installed outside the football field area in order to allow SU’s field hockey team a practice surface as well. While something eventually may be done to improve natural lighting inside Manley, there are no current plans to install windows around the exterior, Sala said.

Gross said he and others at the university have continually looked at improving sports facilities over the past five years.

“Part of it was, in my assessment, we didn’t have enough indoor practice resources,” he said. “We just didn’t have the resources to accomplish what our goals are.”

While most of SU’s current “turf” sports have practiced in the Carrier Dome, there are scheduling and transportation issues that create a number of hurdles for coaches and student-athletes.

“The nice part of this facility is the closeness to where athletic teams are housed,” Sala said, explaining that lockerrooms, instructional areas and training rooms are all in buildings adjacent to the field house. Athletes housed in South Campus apartments have only a short walk to Manley.

Gross said that while football will get a lion’s share of practice time on the new Manley surface, that could change several years down the road.

“Our ultimate plan is to one day build a stand-alone indoor practice facility, if we can do that efficiently,” he said. “And then possibly football and lacrosse would take that facility and the other sports would have even more opportunities. So it’s just a way to stretch out and spread out.”

While the Manley renovation will open up new practice space for SU’s athletic teams, it also signals an end to the field house’s use as a site for competitive events — including high school basketball tournaments and scholastic indoor track & field meets.

For some, like longtime SU head equipment manager Kyle Fetterly, the Manley memories stretch back to collegiate days.

“This was the toughest place in the country to play, for a long, long time,” said Fetterly, who started as a student at SU in 1977.

Fetterly recalled heading to Manley with friends in the dead of night, hours before games against rivals such as St. John’s and St. Bonaventure, to hold a spot in line. The four would rotate — two in the warm, running car and two in line — until the field house would open for a noon game at 9 a.m. The students would get their tickets, then race to the best seats in sections R, S and T, laying across as many as they could save for their friends until game time.

The Syracuse native also remembers being in the crowd for the biting, two-point loss to Georgetown on Feb. 12, 1980, after which Hoyas coach John Thompson famously declared, “Manley Field House is officially closed,” touching off a rivalry that remains healthy 30 years later.

Fetterly said Manley also was a great track & field venue that drew runners from across the country.

He recalled watching future football Hall of Famer and former SU track star Art Monk race against, and defeat, Morehouse College hurdler Edwin Moses in the late 1970s. Moses went on to become the greatest hurdler in U.S. track history.

It was an NCAA-sanctioned track, he said, but it was more of an oval than most indoor facilities and runners could carry more speed through the turns.

“It’s been a great multi-sport facility,” Fetterly said.

We’re moving on to a better place. It’s just kind of sad, that’s all.”